This week I have been observing myself become frustrated. I have embraced the hero’s call to adventure and I feel like I have been open to learn from people, books, webinars, experience – pretty much anything – yet I do not feel like a mentor has appeared nor have I had significant (outward) progress.

While I have noticed many examples of perseverance this week, more than anything, I have been challenged by the word. The tasks I am to complete for the MKE are quite easy to do and, therefore, quite easy not to do. I cannot say that time restraints have held me back, but I guess it is the old blueprint that just does not want to be bothered with all the damn index cards.

I am pretending not to know that change comes on the other side of discomfort.

The trait of the week has been taking initiative and my 15 year old son has given me plenty to notice.

He decided he wanted to get a job. With no input or help, he created a resume for himself and went out applying. Although there were a few setbacks, he persevered and ended up with a job at a local grocery store that works well with his schedule and seems to be a good work environment.

I really appreciated watching him take initiative – he decided his goal and then took the initiative to make it happen. I learned a lot from him this week.

The assignment for the week has been showing and noticing acts of kindness.

This has probably been the most enjoyable week. Noticing and appreciating kindness is a fun habit to get into – it is easy, free, and makes you feel good. Like anything, the more you look, the more you find!

As for showing kindness, I found that doing spontaneous kind things really made me feel good. Having to post them to the Alliance group also helped with the “do it now” aspect of being kind.

So progress has been made with my book. I completed the writing, editing, and rewriting. I even managed to design a cover and get it into a format that could be uploaded (much more difficult than I had anticipated). I test-ran the book with a few people – they loved it. Looking good!

Just when I thought I was ready to hit “publish,” a reader pointed out something in the book that may cause me troubles down the road. The details are not important, but it will cause a delay in publication. Not only is this a pain, the hassle is compounded as this causes a delay in other things I need to do – market the book, (learn how to) create a website, create and maintain a related blog, and write more books.

So, while I feel I am being tested, their really is no temptation to quit – what would I do? This book is a part of my DMP. If I was to quit, I would just stagnate and get frustrated until I returned and completed what was necessary – losing whatever time I had spent in limbo. Although I am being tested, I will persist until I succeed.

The webinar and Og helped me clarify the difference between persisting and not quitting.

In the MLM world, I often hear people talk about not quitting: “Don’t quit and, eventually, you will succeed,” or “the only way to fail is to quit.” These sentiments have bothered me because, on the one hand, they are true – you obviously will not succeed if you quit. On the other hand, however, not quitting does not guarantee success. Many people seem to take the “don’t quit” advice as “don’t stop autoship, don’t stop liking your upline’s Facebook posts, or don’t stop going to meetings.” While all good things, these will likely not bring success.

“Persist” seems like better advice. To me, this implies persisting until you reach your desired ends. Not just hanging around, but figuring it out and doing the work. If something doesn’t work – or stops working – persist and figure it out again. Persist in taking actions that advance you toward your goal.

The other reason I prefer the notion of persistence over not quitting relates to Haanel. Your brain cannot fathom, let alone do, a negative thing. How do you “not quit”? Besides the fact that the brain does not recognize the word “not” the thought of not quitting gives no direction as to what it should do instead of quitting. For this reason, “persist” is better advice. It gives the brain a positive action. Onto the direction to persist, tack on a picture of what you are persisting towards, and the subconscious really has something to work with.

“Thought is a spiritual activity and is therefore creative, but make no mistake, thought will create nothing unless it is consciously, systematically, and constructively directed; and herein is the difference between idle thinking, which is simply a dissipation of effort, and constructive thinking, which means practically unlimited achievement.”

As I alluded to last week, concentrated, focused, and sustained thought is the habit I most need to develop. This week, I have been mindful to be diligent in this area and to “do it now” rather than tell myself I will focus on it later. I am not just thinking, I am directing my thought to my DMP and my inner self.

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